Former 'Ex-Gay' Lears Denounce 'Conversn Therapy' In A New Documentary : NPR

Contents:

• 5 SURPRISG FACTS ABOUT GAY CONVERSN THERAPY
• WHAT IT’S LIKE TO EXPERIENCE GAY CONVERSN THERAPY
• A SURVIVOR OF GAY CONVERSN THERAPY SHAR HIS CHILLG STORY
• DO GAY CONVERSN THERAPY ACTUALLY WORK?
• FORMER 'EX-GAY' LEARS DENOUNCE 'CONVERSN THERAPY' IN A NEW DOCUMENTARY
• 11 RIDICULO, STRANGE, AND TERRIFYG GAY CONVERSN THERAPY METHODS FOR 'CURG' HOMOSEXUALY

5 SURPRISG FACTS ABOUT GAY CONVERSN THERAPY

Some subjects who claimed movement om gay to straight are actually more accurately scribed as bisexual, but were not ially d as such.

WHAT IT’S LIKE TO EXPERIENCE GAY CONVERSN THERAPY

But provirs, ually unlicensed, n often disguise the terms they e to avoid beg terms clu:Sexual attractn fluidy exploratn therapy (SAFE-T)Elimatg, rcg, or creasg equency or tensy of unwanted same-sex attractn (SSA)Reparative therapySexual reorientatn effortsEx-gay mistryPromotg healthy sexualyAddrsg sexual addictns and disorrsSexualy unselgEnuragg relatnal and sexual wholensHealg sexual brokennsConversn therapy techniqu n lead to feelg “ls than” or “damaged, ” impactg self-teem. A number of medil and mental health anizatns have issued public statements rejectg the e of nversn therapy bee of many provirs who claim to be qualified to provi nversn therapy are often not licensed mental health practners or medil study found that LGBTQ (lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr, or qutng) people who are rejected or discrimated agast are:8 tim more likely to report havg attempted suiciAlmost 6 tim more likely to report high levels of prsnMore than 3 tim as likely to e illegal dgs3 tim more likely to be at high risk of HIV and other STDsAcrdg to rearch, nearly 700, 000 LGBTQ adults the U. But mastream psychologists say the therapy is effective, uhil and often harmful, exacerbatg anxiety and self-hatred among those treated for what is not a mental 2013, two s volvg the therapy to nvert gay people to heterosexuals h the urts, wh one seekg to sue unselors who offer the therapy and the other seekg to fend are five thgs you need to know about the therapy and the current psychologists say nversn therapy don't workA diagnosis of major prsn do not evoke much rponse, eher a stigmatizg or supportive, om a person's social work, a study dited.

(Image cred: Oleg Golovnev | shutterstock)Homosexualy is not nsired a mental disorr, so the Amerin Psychologil Associatn (APA) do not remend "curg" same-sex attractn any se. Instead, societal ignorance, prejudice and prsure to nform to heterosexual sir are the real dangers to gay people's mental health, acrdg to a 1997 statement on "nversn" or "reparative" therapy by the APA.

[7 Absolutely Evil Medil Experiments]More recently, people who have been through nversn therapy report talk therapy that emphasiz psdoscientific theori, such as the ia that an overbearg mother and a distant father make a child gay.

A SURVIVOR OF GAY CONVERSN THERAPY SHAR HIS CHILLG STORY

His therapist blamed his parents for Arana's homosexualy, and urged him to distance himself om his female bt Lev, one of the men sug Jonah for ceptive practic, says that he qu nversn therapy after his therapist had him strip down and touch himself to "rennect wh his masculy, " acrdg to the New York 's happeng the urts?

[5 Myths About Gay People Debunked]In a send se California, a feral judge is hearg arguments agast a new state law that bans nversn therapy for mors. In 1935, Frd went even further, wrg to a woman who wanted her homosexual son nverted that homosexualy "is nothg to be ashamed of, no vice, no gradatn; nnot be classified as an illns. One of the stranger attempts was an effort by Vienne endocrologist Eugen Steach to transplant tticl om straight men to the scrotums of gay men an attempt to rid them of same-sex sir.

DO GAY CONVERSN THERAPY ACTUALLY WORK?

It didn’t of the most proment advot of nversn therapy the 1940s and 50s was Edmund Bergler, who saw homosexualy as a perversn and believed he uld "cure" gay people wh a punishment-based, nontatnal therapy the Amerin Psychiatric Associatn stopped classifyg homosexualy as a mental disorr 1973, nversn therapi lost support.

But relig-right anizatns such as Exod Internatnal and Foc on the Fay's Love Won Out took up the charge, promotg their own "ex-gay" therapi. A small group of psychologists, spltg wh their peers, ntue to promote the therapi, foundg the nversn therapy anizatn NARTH, or the Natnal Associatn for Rearch & Therapy of Homosexualy. [The 10 Most Controversial Psychiatric Disorrs]One study says worksNew rearch may shed light on how homosexualy has survived the gene pool.

FORMER 'EX-GAY' LEARS DENOUNCE 'CONVERSN THERAPY' IN A NEW DOCUMENTARY

In 2003, famed psychiatrist Robert Spzer, who spearhead the removal of homosexualy om the Amerin Psychiatric Associatn's mental disorr list 1973, reported the journal Archiv of Sexual Behavr that terviews wh nversn therapy patients suggted that some people uld change their sexual paper was cendiary and highly cricized, given that relied on terviews wh patients stead of measurable benchmarks of same-sex sir.

Conservative groups were lighted to have support om Spzer, who wasn't tated wh relig bias or anti-gay iology; gay anizatns felt the end, however, Spzer me to agree wh his crics. Exod ternatnal ex-gay mistri are all about “helpg” people return to their God-given genr exprsn and, you know, back to heterosexual relatnships.

11 RIDICULO, STRANGE, AND TERRIFYG GAY CONVERSN THERAPY METHODS FOR 'CURG' HOMOSEXUALY

In October, they both walked together their first pri para and Mom told me that durg a recent church event he spoke up agast homophobic ments ma by some ngregants.

While certa therapi, like talk therapy, are also legimate forms of re for people who experience mental health problems, beg gay is, of urse, not a mental health, a 19-year-old gay man who spoke to The Huffgton Post anonymoly for this article orr to protect his safety, is a survivor of nversn therapy was subjected to nversn therapy 2012 when he was 15 years old after his parents disvered he was gay.